Havana, October 31 (ACN) -- Cubans Ivan Silva, in the 90 kilograms (kg) and Andy Granda (100 kg), achieved this Monday the golden double in Pan American Games, by winning their respective divisions in the Santiago 2023 judo tournament.

The first to win the gold medal was Silva, who defeated Brazil's Rafael Macedo by Hansoku-make (disqualification) in the final.

'I came with the motivation to this competition to give my contribution to the delegation, especially with the gold, and I was able to achieve it as in Lima 2019,' he told the press in the mixed zone of the Contact Sports Center.

'Here I arrived with a little more experience and that is always important, I feel satisfied for being Pan American champion once again, and now I will continue working for future challenges', he pointed out.

In the case of Granda, last year's champion in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, he defeated Chilean Francisco Solis by Ippon, to repeat the reign of four years ago in the Peruvian capital.

I knew that facing a local judoka in the final would be complicated, but I went to the tatami focused on my strategy and calm because I always had confidence in my chances of victory,' he said.

'I took advantage of the fact that he (Solis) was a bit desperate and anxious, so I waited for my moment and was able to project it in an action', he added.

He also highlighted the good preparation they had in Cuba and Peru with a view to achieve those good results (so far five gold medals) and thus equal the harvest of Lima 2019, he pointed out.

Finally, he said that Cuban judo once again brought several gold medals and that gives them a lot of joy, although he recalled that the team competition is still pending and there could be big surprises, he concluded.